Installation | Documentation for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware

Installation | Documentation for Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware
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installation
Introduction
You don't have to be a web developer or programmer to install Tiki. Tiki has an easy-to-use, wizard-based installer which will do most of the work for you. The rest can be completed from your web host's control panel. You can also use
1-click installers
If you are a complete novice (or are just not into DIY = do it yourself ) consider using
Tiki friendly hosts
. Many will complete your Tiki setup you free of charge.
If you are a web developer or programmer, command line installation of Tiki is also supported.
Before you begin
Before installing Tiki, read the
Requirements and Setup information
and use the
Server Check
tool. Proper planning can ensure a worry-free installation. If you need a web host for your Tiki, refer to the list of
Tiki Friendly Hosts
These instructions are intentionally generic, and should apply to most shared host installations. See
Installation Guides
for instructions for specific combination of operating system and web servers.
(Full disclosure: the specific installation guides aren't updated as often as the general instructions so could be out of date. Please use the project's mailing lists, forums, etc. to get more information if necessary.)
1.1. Prerequisites
This guide assumes you have:
FTP or SSH (shell) access to, or cPanel access at, a web server (such as Apache) with the required version of PHP for the Tiki release to be installed.
Access to a MySQL database (should be provided by your web host).
Step-by-step installation
1.1. Create the database
Tiki requires a MySQL database.
Many hosts offer a point & click interface to create databases and database users. For example, if your web host has
cPanel
you probably can see
phpMyAdmin
in the main menu or a the section labeled
Databases
Creating a database (and a database user) is a very simple operation. Essentially you will create a blank (empty) database that the Tiki installer will later populate with the correct tables and data.
1.1.1. The three steps of database setup
Create a database.
The database name can be anything but should be kept simple — you can use
tiki
, and avoid using an underscore character in the name. Depending on your web host, your full database in phpMyAdmin may be listed as
accountname_tiki
Note
: By default, Tiki uses
UTF-8
for database encoding. Select "utf8" in the "
collation
" drop-down box in phpMyAdmin (or similar). Tiki moved to
utf8mb4
since Tiki19, so a collation such as
utf8mb4_unicode_ci
should be selected, in the field shown in the following image:
Click to expand
If you select a different encoding method, you may need to manually update your
../db/local.php
file.
Tip
: If you plan on having multiple Tiki installations, don't use
tiki
as the database name.
Be sure to record the database name; you will need it later.
Create a database
user
(with password).
Again, simple is best for the database username. In fact, you can use the same name that you selected for the database (in step 1).
Select a
strong
password. You can easily recover your database username and password if necessary (by reviewing the
../db/local.php
file in your Tiki directory.
Be sure to record the username and password. You will need it later.
Assign
all
database permissions to the database user that you created (in step 2).
Following these steps, a database is created that is ready to use, as well as a database user (and password) with the necessary permissions.
1.2. Two ways to get the Tiki files
1.2.1. Check out the files from the online code development repository
This method requires
(a)
a server with shell (command line) access and
(b)
the
Git
command line tool already installed on your server.
Example for a fresh checkout (recommended also for major upgrades)
Method 1
Cloning to a new folder (that you will specify)
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$ git clone https://gitlab.com/tikiwiki/tiki.git mynewfolder
Method 2
Cloning to the current folder (when you created the intended tikiroot already and changed into this directory prior to the checkout):
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$ git clone https://gitlab.com/tikiwiki/tiki.git .
Note
To clone only the latest 500 commits from a Git repository, you can use the --depth option, which allows you to create a shallow clone with a limited commit history. Here’s how to do it:
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$ git clone --depth 500 https://gitlab.com/tikiwiki/tiki.git mynewfolder
Ressources
If you are new to Git and you want to use Git to either deploy and manage a live website or you are a developer moving to Git from another version control system (vcs), you might want to find a course or a book.
The entire Pro Git book, written by Scott Chacon and Ben Straub and published by Apress, is available here. All content is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike 3.0
license. Print versions of the book are available on
Amazon.com
See also:
A short history of Git
1.2.1.1. Troubleshooting
[+]
Possible problems
1.2.1.1.1. With sh setup.sh, Composer script is not starting
You may have this error message
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Wrong PHP version: phpABC < required PHP version. A version >= phpXYZ is necessary.
The problem is, that many shared hosting providers keep the setting of the default local PHP version of the shell (command-line) to an outdated PHP version which does not match the PHP requirements of Tiki or of the composer. Alternativ PHP settings in the .htaccess or in the php.ini file or in the user.ini file have no effect to the PHP version in the shell (command line).
However most of these servers have newer PHP versions available in the shell (command line), which can be used alternatively.
New to Tiki 16, and likely to be backported to Tiki 15, an option is provided that allows composer to be run with an alternative up-to-date PHP version, given that one is available on the particular server.
Another issue to be addressed is that providers have different naming conventions regarding how to distinguish their available PHP versions. To address this issue, the option "-p" is implemented for the setup.sh script to provide the option to manually change the PHP version used by the script:
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$ sh setup.sh -p PHPVERSION
In a first step, the setup.sh script automatically guesses three typically used namings of up-to-date versions, commonly used on many servers and uses the first one that matches:
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php71 php7.1 php7.1-cli
If the script finds one of these, you should get the following message prior to an autostarting composer:
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Wrong PHP version: phpABC < required PHP version. A version >= phpXYZ is necessary.
Searching for typically named alternative PHP version ...
... correct PHP version phpDEF detected and used
Local PHP version >= required PHP version XYZ - good

Loading composer repositories with package information
Installing dependencies from lock file
(...)
Now you are done. Problem solved.
But
if none of these options work out, you will get the following error message:
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Wrong PHP version: phpABC < required PHP version. A version >= phpXYZ is necessary.
Searching for typically named alternative PHP version ...
... no alternative php version found.
Please provide an alternative PHP version with the -p option.
Example: sh setup.sh -p phpXYZ.
You can use the command-line command 'php[TAB][TAB]' to find out available versions.
This should be self-explanatory. You simply have to use the php command in the shell, followed by twice typing the TAB key without any space or other key and then the Enter. Then the shell (command line) will provide a list of the available PHP versions which you can use (obviously using the naming convention used on the particular server):
Example:
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$ php[TAB][TAB]
php php-56 php-70 php-71 php-72
How to use this information:
Given the required PHP version would be php 7.1, but your provider uses php 5.3 by default, you simply need to type the following command to start setup.sh with the right PHP version for the composer (in this particular case php-71) ...
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$ sh setup.sh -p php-71
Your choice [c]? c
Then setup.sh will start composer with php 7.1 after the following message:
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Wrong PHP version: phpABC < required PHP version. A version >= php71 is necessary.
Searching for typically named alternative PHP version ...
... correct PHP version php55 detected and used
Local PHP version >= required PHP version 71 - good
If you know a newer version of php is installed but it is not found by the TAB method above, it means it is not in your PATH environment variable. If you can find its location, you can use the -p option with a full path like:
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$ sh setup.sh -p /opt/rh/rh-php71/root/bin/php
Your choice [c]? c
Now you need only to follow the setup.sh dialog to fix directory permissions (option
is reasonably secure works on most average servers. If you need a more secure setting or if your server needed a less restrictive setting (better change the server then), you can use another option. To find out which permission option is best n your server, you can use
Permission Check
You are done now and can go to your website to run the installer.
For less technical users who are installing Tiki at a web hosting provider, there is usually a PHP Version link in the control panel to enable you to select the version of PHP that you want to use.
1.2.1.1.2. File and Folder permissions
If you have file and folder permissions issues, here is the link to resolve them:
File and folder permissions
1.2.1.1.3. Tiki installer missing third party software files
Click to expand
You need to run
sh setup.sh
from command lines:
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$ sh setup.sh
Your choice [c]? c
1.2.2. Download a release package
Alternatively, you can
a package of all the files, including external library files, of any supported version of Tiki to your local computer from
Download page at tiki.org
The full Tiki archive file download is 25 to 95MB depending on the version and compression format (zip, bz2, etc.).
1.2.2.1. Upload to your web host with cPanel's file manager
If
cPanel
(a feature commonly offered by shared hosting providers) is available on the web host, you can upload Tiki's zipped package as one file without first extracting the files. Use cPanel's
file manager
to upload the zipped archive and extract the files after the upload is complete. The files can be selected and moved to another directory in one action if necessary. If cPanel is available, this is a safer and faster method than uploading multiple files.
1.2.2.2. Unzip and upload to your web host with FTP or similar
If your web host doesn't have cPanel, after downloading the Tiki archive file, decompress (unzip) the file to your local PC.
Use FTP (or SCP, SFTP, Rsync, SSH, etc) to connect to your web host.
Once connected, find your web directory. It is often called
www
or
public_html
Note
: This directory name may vary, depending on your web host.
1.2.2.2.1. Example 1: Upload all the Tiki files from your PC to your web host.
If you upload the Tiki files to the root of your web directory, Tiki will be accessible directly from the URL:
If you have installed (or plan to install) other applications on your web host, you may consider putting Tiki in its own subdirectory (for example:
). Keep in mind that this might mean that you will have to manually edit the file .htaccess to activate the Tiki subdirectory (for example this "RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /tiki-index.php?page=$1 [QSA,L]" might need to become this "RewriteRule ^(.+)$
/tiki
/tiki-index.php?page=$1 [QSA,L]")
1.2.2.2.2. Example 2: Upload using lftp
lftp -u username ftp.example.com
lcd /path/to/local/tiki
cd /path/to/web/tiki
set ftp:ssl-allow no
mirror -R ./
An ftp testing upload session to an external web host needed approximately two hours, and the limitation was the provider's setting. The local internet connection was
not
saturated.
1.3. Install Tiki
1.3.1. Install a repository checkout
To complete the setup of the checked-out files, including fetching external libraries and setting permissions, run setup.sh, (in the tikiroot):
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$ sh setup.sh
For more information on using setup.sh, also see the
Troubleshooting
section, or run
sh setup.sh -h
in the shell. Regarding Composer, which is only needed to fetch external libraries when Tiki is being installed from the repository, use the option "c" after starting the setup.sh script:
For Tiki < 27
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$ sh setup.sh
. . .
Your choice [c or f]? c
For Tiki ≥ 27
See:
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$ sh setup.sh
. . .
Your choice [b]? b
1.3.2. Install a downloaded release package
Run the Tiki installer (tiki-install.php)
Navigate in a web browser to:
(or
if you installed Tiki in a subdirectory).
The first page of the Tiki Installer appears. This installer will allow you to:
Pick a language
Test your server settings
If the installer detects that some of your server settings are inadequate, it will suggest changes to comply to the
Requirements
Enter your database host, name, username, and password.
This is the information from the database that you created earlier. You
did
remember to write it down, right? For non-default port number use syntax "
example.com;port=3307
Create/update the database
Note: on osx installations, the mysql socket is a bit different. In /etc/php.ini, change all instances of /var/mysql/mysql.sock to /tmp/mysql.sock and then restart the web server
Set some preferences, such as admin email
Disable the install script
And more
Complete each page of the Tiki Installer.
1.3.2.1. Security choices during installation
There are a couple of important security choices during installation as follows:
1.3.2.1.1. Secure login
When configuring general settings during installation, there is an option to "Require secure (https) login". It is recommended to select this option so that data sent between the browser and the site server is kept private.
In order to implement secure logins, in addition to selecting this option, you will need a security certificate and a dedicated IP address for your domain. These can be obtained or purchased from your web hosting company or, in the case of the security certificate, from third parties.
1.3.2.1.2. Lock the installer
In the last step of the installer, the installer is locked by default once you click the button to enter your Tiki. There is an option to elect to
not
lock the installer in that last step of the installation. It is highly recommended that you lock the installer for any production site. The option is provided for convenience for development sites only. The installer allows the site's database to be changed or destroyed through the browser so it is very important to keep it locked once the installation or upgrade is complete.
1.3.2.2. Alternative "Step 5" without tiki-install.php
If you are unable to complete the Tiki Installer, continue with a
manual installation
1.3.3. Log in for the first time
Log in using the login box in the right-hand column.
Enter this information:
user:
Enter
admin
pass:
Enter
admin
Click
1.3.4. Change the default password.
Use a strong password. You may want to log out right away, and log in again, letting your password manager record your password.
1.3.5. Congratulations!
It is recommended to create a new user and give this user admin privileges instead of regularly using the admin account. You can now explore the interface but you should check the extra steps before to get you started.
1.3.6. Configure Your Tiki
Please visit
Initial Configuration
, which describes the recommended next steps, or
configuration
for the table of contents related to configuring Tiki.
1.3.7. Add new features through post-install Profiles
You can enable a set of settings/permissions/content features in a single action, in order to provide a common feature at your Tiki site (make it multilingual, add tags, configure it as a collaborative environment, etc.) with a just few clicks using the
Profile Manager
from "
Admin > Profiles
".
Read more about it at
Profiles
For more information on the Tiki installation process...
Related pages:
Installation FAQ
Installation Guides
- recipes, tips and detailed knowledge about specific hosting environments
Migrate to Tiki
Move Tiki to a new server
Reinstall
- to point Tiki to a new database or re-run an upgrade
Tiki in Ten minutes
- a recipe for command line installations.
Fantastico Installation
Using SSH
(for newbies)
Manual Installation
MultiTiki
Alias
Install
How to install
How to install Tiki
How to install TikiWiki
Foo-Installation-Doc-2018
History
Source
Slideshow
Related content
Related Video "Features and Options in Tiki"
Beginner
| Administrator
Bernard Sfez / Tiki Specialist
- Wed 12 Dec, 2018
Other videos
On this #tikiexpresstutorial, using #tiki19 I’ll show you:
How to enable a feature from the Control Panels
How to enable a Global Feature from the features panel
How to enable an Interface feature
A quick overview of the Programmer features
And where to look for feature options
Visit my
website
or
my youtube channel
to see more Tiki express tutorial and
Subscribe to my youtube channel
Future version
More content and functionality (left side)
doc.tiki.org
Get Started
Admin Guide
User Guide
Keywords
Keywords
serve as "hubs" for navigation within the Tiki documentation. They correspond to
development keywords
(bug reports and feature requests):
(WAI and 508)
Accounting
Articles
and
Submissions
Backlinks
Banners
Batch
BigBlueButton
audio/video/chat/screensharing
Blog
Browser Compatibility
Link Cache
Calendar
Category
Chat
Clean URLs
Comments
Communication Center
Compression
(gzip)
Contacts
(Address Book)
Content Templates
Contribution
Credit
Custom Home
and
Group Home Page
Date and Time
Debugger Console
Directory
of hyperlinks
Documentation
link from Tiki to doc.tiki.org (Help System)
Docs
Draw
Dynamic Content
Dynamic Variable
External Authentication
FAQ
Featured links
File Gallery
Forum
Friendship Network
(Community)
Gmap
Google maps
Groups
Hotword
HTML Page
i18n
(Multilingual, l10n)
Image Gallery
Import-Export
Install
Integrator
Interoperability
Inter-User Messages
InterTiki
Kaltura
video management
Karma
Live Support
Logs
(system & action)
Look and Feel
Mail-in
Map
with Mapserver
Meta Elements
Mobile
Tiki and Voice Tiki
Module
MultiTiki
MyTiki
Notepad
Payment
Performance
Speed / Load
Permissions
Platform independence
(Linux-Apache, Windows/IIS, Mac, BSD)
Polls
Profiles
Profile Manager
Report
Toolbar
Quiz
Rating
Feeds
Score
Search engine optimization
Search and Replace
Security
Semantic
links
Shadowbox
Shadow Layers
Share
Shopping cart
Shoutbox
Slideshow
Smiley
Social Networks
Spam protection
(Anti-bot CATPCHA)
Spellcheck
Spreadsheet
Stats
Surveys
Tags
Task
Tell a Friend
alert
+ Social Bookmarking
TikiTests
Theme
CSS & Smarty
Tiki Manager
Trackers
Transitions
User Administration
including registration and
banning
User Files
User Menu
Watch
WebDAV
Webmail
Web Services
Wiki
History, page rename, etc
Wiki Syntax
Wiki structure
(book and table of content)
Workspace
WSOD
WYSIWYCA
WYSIWYG
XMLRPC
Latest Changes
Passkey
Pluginfancylink
Tiki30
Tiki29
Permission Enforcement Order
Semantic Admin
Semantic Links
Prosody
Converse
System Configuration
...more
Featured Links
Tiki Video Tutorials
Tiki for Smarties (beginner's guide)
Tiki Essentials (advanced)
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